Documenting Electronic Sources

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Date: January 11, 2021

There are different ways to gather the data and as well as there are many sources from where one can collect the data regarding the particular topic, like the internet and many other kinds of digital sources. Internet is the most common tool which is facilitating the researchers to search for authentic data online but as this is a new source to collect, that is why many disciplines define different ways to document electronic sources with dissimilar styles.

Manual Style

Before getting information relevant to the topic the researcher must see the manual style and the discipline to which one belongs because the manual styles for every discipline are somehow changed. The handout is very helpful for the instructors, teachers, students for gathering the data from the electronic sources and it assists the writers to mention those sources in different styles according to the discipline.

Read more: How to cite sources?

Citation Styles

In the United States, the teachers, students, etc are using two styles like the MLA which stands for the Modern Language Association and the other is APA which stands for the American Psychological Association. The students of humanities used the MLA Styles whereas the students of social sciences are skilled in APA style. There are many guides available online for the students, teachers to get more information about these styles like the style guide. Writing is not a difficult task to do but the fact remains the same that the writer needs to give some time to writing because in hurry a writer cannot produce creative work. The best part of the writer is that he/she should be skilled in writing the material in different styles.

In the universities, the instructors used to give many assignments and written tasks to the students so to complete those the students used to complete those tasks by gathering the information from the internet because it is the fastest medium from where one can collect the data related to the topic. Now there are hundreds of internet sites which are offering millions of information regarding every type of topic, internet is cost-efficient and time-efficient because the student takes less time to research the material rather than searching data from the libraries.

Read more: How to Use Writing Styles and Citation Styles to Avoid Plagiarism?

APA Style

If the student is following the APA style then it is necessary to learn the APA format because otherwise the research would not be acceptable to the instructor. In the final semesters the students use to do the major thesis and for which they need to get much more information regarding the topic, there are many ways through which one can get authentic information like the primary sources and the secondary sources and after collecting the information the students used to follow that style which is acceptable to the university.

Font Styles in APA and MLA Style

The font styles also differ in both the APA and MLA Style because in APA the focus is on the italics and not on the underlining, if the student required putting underline then the formal procedure is to take permission from the instructor because the word which is underlined gives the impression of some link and due to which sometimes the instructor and the audience can get confused. In web composition, the writer needs to avoid the underlines, and instead of trying to use the italics to give emphasis to the sentences and words. So to be a more expert writer it is good to learn about the different manuals.